Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.MOTOCROSS '.MX Series .' Round 3: Hangtown . AMAWestern 4-Stroke N ational OUD U S0 • - ro e WID (Left) Husabe rg's M icky Dymond grabbed the holesho! at the start of the first 4-Stroke National moto at Hangtown only to have his front wheel wash out In front of the 25rider pack. (Below) Mike Young (273) was the rider of the day as he put together 2-1 moto scores to claim his firs! overall win of the season. .By David Lutz Photos by Kinney Jones and Lutz SACRAMENTO, CA, MAY S h e back to the fu ture movement current ly afoot in m ot ocross received another boost last w eek end in the form of the third round of the inaugural AMA 4-Stroke National se ries. A healthy lineu p of 26 riders rep resenting n o less than seven manufacturers turned ou t to contend for a $3500 purse and va rious factory con tingencies. , With only a limited production rul e in force and real money on the line, the bikes entered wer e full moto, with nary a clapped-out trail bike with a headlight in sigh t. Run as the "su pport" cla ss for th e H angtown N ational MX, the r acing promised to be first cla ss, as th e field includ ed such n otab les as two-time 125 cc N at ional Champi on Mick y Dym ond, former World GP contender Billy Liles, Kawasaki Team Green' s jackof-a ll-trades su pers tar Ty Davis, fou rstroke ace M ik e Young and cu rrent points lead er Lance Smail. In fact, event winner Mi ke Young' s lap tim es aboard his Husaber g w ou ld have pl aced him amo ng the top fini shers in the 250cc Na tion al, The Dirt Digger Motorcycl e Clubprepared. track was excellen t and even the weather cooperated, wi th tem peratures in the mid-80s and a gentle breeze keeping things cool, KTM-mounted Small-was threatening to become th e McGrath of the 4Stroke Ser ies , easily winning th e firs t tw o rou nds and moto one at Ha ngtown. But it w as no t to be for him in the overall ranking, however, as the Washington state native ran in to trouble in the second moto. T Finishing first on the day and assu min g th e overa ll series poin ts lead with 2-1 m oto scor es was Husaberg's Young . Davis, out to ha v e fun on a rare week end off, posted 4-2 fini shes for s e co n d overall. Northern Cali fornia expatriate Spud W a lters fini sh ed a str ong th ird, whil e Da ve Coupe and Jimmy Lewis rounded out the top five, resp ectively. M ot o one opened with Young g a t ing cleanl y in front of Hu saberg teammate Dymond for th e hol e shot. Foll owin g cl o sel y b ehind w e re CCM team riders Liles, Terry Fow ler and Gordon Ward, while Smail w as sa n d w ic he d am ong th e CCM rid ers in fifth. The rest of the mot o w ould n ot go so smoothly for the CCM team, however. Fowler scored th e team's. best fini sh in seventh, with Liles tagging along behind for eigh th . Ward did not finish the moto. Sma il wasted no time in his attempts to move for w ard, ge tting by the CCM riders in fron t of him with little difficulty by the end of the first lap. Smail the n -began qu ickly to reel in Dymond. "I wheelied off the line and lost some time but was able to move in to fifth by the bo ttom of the hill," sai d Smail . Davis, serious ly lacking in horsepow- er on his bored-out KLX250 vs, the big SOls and 602s, rounded the first tum in ninth position. " I only go t t h is b ik e a cou ple of weeks ago," said Da vis. " I se n t it to Larry (Roeseler) and he made it a 338, w e d id some carburetion testing an d here we are." Davis also immed iately se t ou t to move forward, passing riders until he landed in fourth on lap th ree. Davi s would im prove no m or e, however, as th e leaders had already stre tche d out a sizable margin . Mea nwh ile, Sm ail cont inu ed h is mar ch forward, squeezing by Dym ond for second at arou nd the eigh t-minute m ark of th e 25-minute-p lu s-two-lap moto, The tw o front-runners beg an to pull away from Dymond eve n as Smail began to close the ga p slowly but sure ly on Young.

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